


We'll Get There Someday

by kate882



Category: DCU, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Under the Red Hood
Genre: 5+1 Things, M/M, panic attack mentions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-15 04:51:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11798775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kate882/pseuds/kate882
Summary: Five times Dick told Jason he loved him and one time Jason said it back.





	We'll Get There Someday

1.

The first time Dick told Jason he loved him it had just kind of slipped out. He wasn’t even saying it seriously, he knew Jason wasn’t ready for that. 

“Dick, I brought pizza,” Jason said as he walked into Dick’s apartment, setting two boxes down on the kitchen table and tossing his jacket over one of the chairs.

Dick rounded the corner from his bedroom, grin spread wide over his face, and dropped a quick kiss on Jason’s cheek before turning to look at the boxes. “Dude, do I smell pepperoni? Oh man, I love you, I’m starving.”

He’d already walked over to the table before he realized that Jason had gone completely still, and he had to mentally go over his words to find what he’d said wrong before he realized.

Jason had then bolted, locking himself in Dick’s bathroom to have a panic attack.

So the pizza went cold while Dick sat on the other side of the door, murmuring apologies and comforting words between trying to coach Jason through breathing exercises until he was ready to unlock the door.

It wasn’t the worst reaction he could have gotten, but it was definitely up there. He tried not to take it personally, and assured Jason he wasn’t mad.

2.

The second time he said it they were laying in bed together. Jason had been gone for a month with Roy and Kori.

So of course before Dick could even tell Jason he’d missed him Jason was pressing him against a wall, shoving his hands up under Dick’s shirt. Dick wasn’t really complaining. He’d missed this too.

It was after a few rounds, they’d made it to the bed by the second one, and they were both tired. Jason was even indulging Dick in post sex cuddling, the clearest sign that he’d missed Dick too, even if he hadn’t said so.

“I love you,” Dick told him sleepily, head resting on Jason’s chest, listening to his heart beat. Which he heard pick up speed at the words. Which is how he knew that Jason wasn’t actually asleep, even though his breathing was even and his eyes were closed when Dick glanced up at his face.

He hadn’t really expected Jason to say it back, and he hadn’t had a panic attack this time, so Dick counted it as a win.

3.

The third time he said it he was freaking out.

“Jason! Jay! C’mon, please, stay awake.” His hands were covered in blood as he tried to put pressure on the bullet wound in Jason’s stomach. “I can’t lose you again, Little Wing. I love you, c’mon.”

Jason coughed a few times and blood came out with it. His lips and teeth were tinted red as he grinned up at Dick. “You’re such a drama queen, Dickiebird. I’ll be fine,” he rasped out. And then almost immediately after that he lost consciousness.

Dick stayed with him, continuing to say that everything would be okay and that he loved Jason, even though Jason couldn’t hear him, until the ambulance got there.

And then he went with them, despite the risk it posed to his secret identity.

Later, if anyone were to look at security footage they would find that the entire day’s footage was missing, and if they looked for a John Doe with a bullet wound all of the files on him were also missing. And mysteriously none of the doctors or nurses seemed to recall seeing him either to give a description.

4.

The fourth time he said it they were undercover, so he wasn’t even sure if it even really counted. 

They were causing a scene so that Tim could get into a backroom unnoticed, and they’d gone for a fake proposal since what he needed was located in a fancy restaurant.

“I’ve loved you for years. I still feel like my heart skips a beat when I look at you, and I want to keep feeling that for the rest of my life.” Dick was down on one knee, a fake ring extended out towards Jason. “I want to spend the rest of my life loving you. I want to keep having adventures with you. I want to wake up next to you every morning. I love you. So, will you make me the happiest man on earth and marry me?” He didn’t even feel like he was faking anything, but he knew it would be awhile before he could get Jason to agree to a real marriage. If he ever could.

Still, it felt nice when Jason wrapped him in his arms, declaring, “Of course I’ll marry you. It was never even a question.”

Out of the corner of his eye Dick spotted Tim slipping away as the people around them clapped and came up to congratulate them.

5.

The fifth time he just came out and said it. They were sitting on his couch, watching a movie and eating popcorn and Jason had his arm around Dick’s waist when Dick turned to him and said, “I’m in love with you.” 

Jason almost choked on the popcorn he was eating, and Dick felt a little bad that he hadn’t at least made sure Jason had swallowed first.

“F-fuck, warn a guy,” Jason muttered when he managed to get the popcorn down.

“Okay. Warning: I’m about to tell you that I love you. Jason, seriously, I’m in love with you.”

Jason avoided looking at him, despite how close they were sitting. “I know that. You’ve told me before. I can’t- you know I- I just-”

“It’s fine,” Dick assured him. “I just, I wanted to tell you. And I want to be able to keep telling you without you getting all distant when I do it. And because I love you, I’m going to wait until you’re able to say it back. No pressure. No matter how long that takes.”

Jason just stared at him for a few seconds before he nodded, and leaned forward to kiss him. “I’ll manage it eventually,” he said when he pulled away briefly, before leaning in to kiss Dick again. They didn’t really pay much attention to the rest of the movie. It wasn’t that good anyway.

+1 

Dick walked out of his apartment to find Jason pacing outside of it. “Jay? You okay?”

“Yeah, fine,” Jason said, still staring at the ground as he paced.

“Uh huh... And how long have you been out here?” Luckily he’d only been planning to go to the store, and it was his day off, so he could afford to take the time to calm Jason down from whatever it was that was bothering him without having to call in sick or anything like that.  

“I don’t know, what time is it?” Jason finally glanced up at him, and Dick noted the dark circles under his eyes, and the way his lower lip looked like he’d been biting at it too hard.

“Almost four.”

“Then about two hours.”

Dick frowned, walking over and putting a hand on Jason’s shoulder to stop him from moving around so much. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong; I’m just a fucking coward.” Jason pulled away from the hand on his shoulder to keep moving.

“Little Wing, you’re not-”

“I love you,” Jason cut him off, stopping suddenly in front of Dick. “I love you, and I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to tell you, and I know you said you’d wait until I was ready, but I don’t think I’ll ever be ready, so I’m telling you now because it’s true, but I also think I’m about to have a panic attack,” he said all in one breath, and Dick quickly pulled him into his arms.

“It’s okay, it’s fine, you’re fine. And I love you too,” he said gently, running his fingers through Jason’s hair as Jason tried to even out his breathing, resting his forehead on Dick’s shoulder despite the awkward height difference.

It wasn’t the most conventional love confession, but Dick had never expected conventional from Jason. And someday they’d get around to him being able to say it without all the anxiety. Until then though, Jason could take as much time as he needed, and Dick knew that he loved him even if he couldn’t say it. Had known it even before today.

“I’ll make you pancakes if you come inside,” Dick offered when Jason’s breathing was mostly back to normal, even though he was still shaking slightly in Dick’s arms.

“Your pancakes are shit,” Jason told him, but let Dick lead him inside anyway.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was enough.


End file.
